Deep freeze continues for US

A SUV spun out of control and into a ditch in Virginia during the frigid winter storm.

Reuters

Gary Peterson de-limbs a large spruce tree that was toppled by strong winds when the storm hit Minnesota.

Reuters

Scott Asperheim runs his snowblower to clear the sidewalk around his home from several feet of snow after a snowstorm in Duluth, Minnesota.

Reuters

People from Texas to New York were bundling up after the polar blast hit.

A deadly winter storm that sent parts of the United States into a deep freeze over the weekend is keeping a tight grip on the nation, as bitter temperatures, snow and ice spread across the East Coast, snarling traffic and knocking out power to thousands.

Up to 12cm of snow was forecast for an area stretching from Virginia into New York, the National Weather Service (NWS) said.

Meanwhile, dangerously cold temperatures and wind chills were forecast to persist in the western half of the United States, the weather service said, with temperatures about 10 to 30 degrees below average from the Rockies to the Great Lakes and lower Mississippi Valley.

"I don't think things are going to warm up anytime soon," said Bruce Sullivan, National Weather Service meteorologist.

Thousands of homes and businesses were without power and thousands of flights were delayed as snow and ice covered roads, highways and airport runways from Texas and Oklahoma east to Virginia and north through Pennsylvania.

Northern Maryland received 17 to 25cm of snow over the weekend, while central and eastern Pennsylvania got 10 to 25cm, and parts of New York received up to 25cm. Sleet and freezing rain also pummeled the area, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).

The Arctic effect was widespread, stretching from the west coast to the east. The temperature in Jordan, Montana, fell to -41 degrees Celsius on Saturday, the lowest US temperature recorded during the storm.

Among other lows, Burns, Oregon, in the northern part of the state, hit a record -34C on Sunday, said Sullivan.

Minneapolis was forecast hitting a high of -17.2C.

On one stretch of highway near Philadelphia, more than 50 cars and trucks were caught in a series of chain-reaction crashes on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. One man was killed when he left his vehicle after the crashes, officials said.

AAA Mid-Atlantic, the auto group, said it pulled 109 vehicles out of snow and ice in Pennsylvania, compared with three the week before.

5-YEAR-OLD DIES

At least three people were killed in weather-related car accidents in Arkansas and Tennessee as well, authorities said.

Virginia officials warned drivers of hazardous travel conditions, said Laura Southard, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Emergency Management.

The winter storm claimed at least two lives in Oklahoma, including a 5-year-old boy who died after a van he was riding in flipped on an iced-over bridge on December 5, authorities said. A homeless man in Oklahoma City also died, succumbing to the cold beneath an overpass also on December 5, according to police.

The heavy snow and harsh conditions were on display during Sunday's National Football League matchup between the Philadelphia Eagles and Detroit Lions in Philadelphia.

At times it was nearly impossible to see the game from his seat in the upper deck of Lincoln Financial Field, said Eagles season ticket holder Pete Peters.

"For the first half of the game it was a complete whiteout," Peters said. "I was shivering, my teeth were chattering by the fourth quarter."

While he was at the game, Peters' wife and daughter were stranded at the Philadelphia airport when their flight to Orlando was canceled.

COLD PERSISTS IN SOUTH, CENTRAL US

Frigid temperatures persisted in the nation's midsection and travel was snarled in airports and along roadways due to icy conditions.

More than 1,600 flights were canceled nationwide on Monday, according to tracking website Flightaware.com, with "excessive delays" reported at Boston's Logan International Airport, Chicago's O'Hare International, and Philadelphia International airport, among others.

About 650 travellers were stranded overnight in the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport at the weekend, officials said. Still, that was an improvement from the more than 2,000 people who were forced to sleep on cots and chairs Saturday night and 4,000 people stranded in the airport on Friday night.

Dallas/Fort Worth airport had four runways fully operational early Monday, allowing some 500 flights to be scheduled for departure. About 350 flights remained cancelled yesterday, airport officials said.

Some 267,000 customers in Texas lost power at the height of the storm, according to power company Oncor. About 21,000 homes and businesses remained without power statewide on Monday, Oncor said.

In southeastern Oklahoma, about 4,000 homes and businesses were without power on Monday, according to Oklahoma Corporation Commission spokesperson Matt Skinner, who said service would likely be restored by Thursday or Friday.

State health officials said 200 people suffered injuries related to the storm.